Method of manufacturing pliers.



F. C BILLINGS. METHOD OF MANUFACTURING PLIEBS.

APPLICATION FILED JULYB, I914.

Patented May16,1916.

IN V EN TOR. Free/6W2 C Bil/inqs:

WITIEZSS S.-

A TTORNE Y.

FREDERIG C. BILLINGS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGN'OR TO THEBILLINGS &

SPENCER COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTI-CUT.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING PLIERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERIC C. BIL- LINGS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and Stateof Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMethods of Manufacturing Pliers, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates particularly to a novel method of manufacturingpliers in which the plier members, each of which comprises a handle andintegral jaw, are connected together through what is known as a boxjoint, and secured together by a suitable pivot pin.

A pair of pliers made in accordance with my invention is illustrated inthe drawings in which Figure 1 is a sideview, Fig. 2 is an edge View.

In accordance with my invention one of the plier members, as a, isslotted as at b, the slot being of such width as to leave walls 0, c, ofsubstantial thickness and strength. This member has at one end a jaw dand at its opposite end a handle 6. The other member f has a jaw part 9cooperating with the other jaw (Z and of equal width therewith. .At thelower end of the jaw part and intermediate the jaw and handle thismember f is reduced in thickness, as clearly shown at h in Figs. 1 and2, so that it will pass through and work freely in the slot in theopposite member. After the two parts of the plier are fitted together,the handle end 2' of the member f is upset laterally or fiattened so asto give a broadened bearing surface which is greater in width than thewidth of the slot through the other member. This results in connectingthe two plier members together so that they cannot be taken apart. Apivot pin 71: provides a fulcrum on which the two plier members work. Byfollowing out this method it will be seen that I am able to produce apair of pliers, the members of which are connected by a box-joint, andyet each member comprises but a single piece of metal. The two membersare permanently connected together by reason of the fact that the maleplier member is larger at its ends than at the intermediate part whichworks in the slot in the female member, with the result that though thepivotal pin drop out or become lost, the

two parts of the plier cannot become separated.

The material and novel feature of this invention resides in permanentlyinterlocking the two plier members, each of which is an lntegralstructure formed from a single piece of metal. I am thus able to produceapair of pliers which comprise but three essential parts-the two pliermembers and the pivot pin.

I am aware that it has been proposed to connect plier members by a boxjoint and then rivet onto the side of the handle of the male member astrip of metal which will mcrease the width of the handle and cause thetwo parts to be interlocked but it will be obvious that such a practiceis expensive, and that it is impossible to produce the finishedappearance which can be produced by the practice of the herein-describedinvention.

The box-joint construction for pliers is a decidedly advantageous one inthat the strains incident to the use of the pliers are straight clampingstrains, and any tendency to spring the jaws apart or cramp them isobviated. This invention therefore is peculiarly adapted to the plierart and constitutes a substantial advance over anything heretoforeknown.

I claim as my invention That improvement in the art of manufacturingbox-jointed pliers which consists in forming one of the plier memberswith an integral jaw -and handle and an intermediate flattened portionand slotting said flattened portion; and in forming the other pliermember as an integral structure having a jaw, a flattened portionadapted to fit within the slot in the other member, and a handle of evenwidth with the flattened portion; next, in fitting said two pliermembers together by passing the handle of the last mentioned through theslot of the first mentioned member; and finally in flattening the stockof said handle laterally after the two plier members are assembled, inorder to increase the width of the handle beyond the width of the slotin the other plier member.

FREDERIO C. BILLINGS. WVitnesses L. E. SMITH, D. E. MARCHANT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

